European Commission for Democracy Through Law

Baroness Gould of Potternewton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they will announce the appointment of the United Kingdom Member to the Council of Europe Venice Commission.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: I am pleased to announce that Professor Jeffrey Jowell QC has been appointed as the UK Member of the European Commission for Democracy Through Law (the Venice Commission).

Part-time Judicial Appointments

Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the Lord Chancellor has completed his review of the terms of service of part-time judicial office-holders in England and Wales following the judgment of the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland in the Starrs case.

Lord Irvine of Lairg: The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and I have agreed new arrangements for part-time judicial appointments for which I am responsible. We accord the highest value to the maintenance of judicial independence for all judges, full-time and part-time, and the arrangements have been fashioned by us for that purpose.
	I am placing in the Libraries of both Houses two joint statements signed by me and by the Lord Chief Justices setting out these changes for the following appointments in ordinary Courts in England and Wales:
	Recorders,
	Deputy District Judges,
	Acting Stipendiary Magistrates,
	Deputy Masters or Registrars of the Supreme Court,
	Deputy High Court Judges,
	Deputy Circuit Judges,
	Retired Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, Lords Justices and High Court Judges; and the following appointments in Northern Ireland:
	Deputy Resident Magistrate,
	Deputy County Court Judge,
	Deputy District Judge,
	Retired Law Lords, Lord Justices and High Court Judges.
	I have also decided that no useful purpose is served by retaining the separate offices of Assistant Recorder and Recorder and I will, accordingly, be recommending to Her Majesty that all serving Assistant Recorders should be appointed Recorders. In future, appointments will be made direct to Recordership through an openly advertised selection procedure.
	I am also placing in the Libraries of both Houses, joint statements signed by me and by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales covering the following fixed-term appointments to Tribunals:
	Part-time Immigration Adjudicators
	Part-time members of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal
	Part-time members of the Income and Corporation Taxes Tribunal
	Part-time members of the Lands Tribunal
	Part-time members of the Pensions Appeal Tribunals
	Deputy Social Security and Child Support Commissioners
	Part-time Special Commissioners of Income Tax
	Part-time members of the Appeals Service (social security)
	Part-time Chairmen of the VAT and Duties Tribunal
	The Secretary of State for Social Security and the Chancellor of the Exchequer have placed similar statements in the Libraries covering the following appointments for which they are ministerially responsible:
	Secretary of State for Social Security
	Pensions Ombudsman
	Members of the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority
	Chancellor of the Exchequer
	Members of the VAT and Duties Tribunal
	These changes will come into effect immediately.
	At a later stage, there will be a further announcement about the detailed aspects of these tribunal arrangements as they will operate in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales following consultation with the devolved administrations.

Crown Office List: Review

Lord Dubs: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	When they intend to publish the review of the Crown Office List.

Lord Irvine of Lairg: My department has today published the Review of the Crown Office List. The Review was chaired by Sir Jeffery Bowman. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Elderly Patients and Diamorphine Misuse

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What monitoring is done of the use of diamorphine in the treatment of elderly patients in National Health Service hospitals; and what evidence the Department of Health has of such patients being overdosed with diamorphine.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Diamorphine is controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and classified as a schedule 2 Controlled Drug under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1985. Accordingly there are strict controls over its prescription, requisition, storage, and supply.
	Department of Health guidance (Guidelines for the Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines, commonly known as "the Duthie report") issued in 1988, recommends that a register of the receipt, supply and use of Schedule 2 Controlled Drugs is kept at ward level as good practice. More recently, the controls assurance initiative, launched by my honourable friend the Minister of State of Health, Mr Denham, in November 1999, sets out the "organisational" controls expected to be in place in hospitals across a range of areas. In March of this year, the National Health Service Executive issued a revised controls assurance standard to NHS hospitals--Safe and Secure Handling of Medicines (Medicines Management). This reflects the principles of the Duthie report and can be utilised by hospital personnel and independent auditors to check compliance with statutory, mandatory and best/good practice.
	Recent allegations of misuse of diamorphine are being investigated by the hospitals concerned.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Baroness Blatch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	With what authority did the Lord Sainsbury of Turville announce a definitive spending commitment arising from the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: The £25 million additional money to be made available to the North West for research will be provided over the years 2001-02 to 2003-04, the period of the next Spending Review, the outcome of which will be announced later this year. The funding can be accommodated within the department's baseline without affecting the already announced allocations to the Research Councils, to other funded bodies, and to programmes and schemes such as the Joint Infrastructure Fund, Foresight LINK Awards and University Challenge.

Comprehensive Spending Review

Baroness Blatch: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In addition to the spending commitment arising from the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review announced by the Lord Sainsbury of Turville, what other commitments have been determined; and when will they be announced to Parliament.

Lord Sainsbury of Turville: There are no current plans to announce any commitments over and above the department's already published allocations up to 2001-02 before the outcome of the Spending Review later this year.

Pig Industry: Insolvencies

The Duke of Montrose: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have any plans to submit a plan for assistance for those faced with insolvency in the pig industry.

Baroness Hayman: We have no plans to submit a separate scheme on the lines suggested. It is envisaged however that the pig industry restructuring scheme, announced on 30 March as part of the Action Plan for Farmers, will include an outgoers element, which may be applicable to pig breeders faced with insolvency.

BSE: Monitoring Plans

Lord Graham of Edmonton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What monitoring for BSE in cattle do they propose to undertake in 2000-01.

Baroness Hayman: In line with advice from SEAC, the Government's Scientific Advisory Committee on BSE, the Government propose to test for BSE in 10,000 cattle aged over five years slaughtered under the Over Thirty Months Scheme. This programme will start in April 2000. It will follow on from last year's similar survey of almost 4,000 cattle. The aim of this second survey will be to monitor the decline in the BSE epidemic in the UK.
	This initiative will be additional to the EU-wide testing programme of casualty and fallen stock which was agreed in the Standing Veterinary Committee on 4 April with UK support. It will start in January 2001, and require the UK to examine about 7,000 cattle annually.

BSE

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they are aware of any cases in which maternal transmission of BSE has been demonstrated.

Baroness Hayman: We are not aware of any such cases. SEAC has, however, concluded that there is some epidemiological evidence of maternal transmission at a low level although it did not rule out the possibility of factors of genetic susceptibility.

BSE

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any studies are under way to determine how far mice, that express only human PrP with methionine only at codon 129, and such mice which are heterozygous for valine and methionine at this codon, are susceptible to infection with BSE.

Baroness Hayman: This has been identified as a research priority by MAFF. A call for proposals to perform these studies has been included in the TSE Research Requirement's Document which was published by MAFF on 4 April 2000. Suitable BSE brain samples have also been supplied to a UK laboratory which has developed such transgenic mice.

BSE

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any studies in humans or animals are under way with the object of determining whether infectious diseases and gastrointestinal disorders play a part in determining susceptibility to BSE infection by the oral route.

Baroness Hayman: MAFF-funded studies are currently under way to look at early disease processes in the guts of mice and cattle following oral infection with BSE. A study of the gut in sheep with natural scrapie is also ongoing in which any signs of infection other than scrapie are being noted together with any association with prion protein.

BSE

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether it is considered by those investigating the occurrence of new-variant CJD that a sufficient number of cattle with BSE have been strain-typed to provide an accurate assessment of the nature of the presumed infective agent.

Baroness Hayman: Strain typing would not identify the nature of the presumed agent: it identifies the strain of TSE present. Scientists working in the field have concluded that there is one strain of BSE as identified by mouse bioassay and molecular typing of the prion protein. The link with vCJD was strengthened when it was shown that the molecular typing of vCJD was the same as BSE. The strain of BSE identified by mouse bioassay and PrP typing remains constant when animals other than cattle are infected with BSE. In addition, the lesion profile within the brains of cattle with natural BSE has been monitored in birth year cohorts starting with the 1992 cohort. The lesion profile in cattle has remained constant, indicating that only one strain is present.

Scrapie

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any large scale studies are in progress for the molecular strain typing of scrapie in sheep.

Baroness Hayman: Molecular strain typing needs to be performed under rigorous conditions in a laboratory to give interpretable results. MAFF has supported several studies which have attempted to repeat or scale up this process. MAFF has recognised the need to explore further the definition of strain both in mouse bioassay and by molecular methods and has included this in its Research Requirements document published on 4 April 2000. In addition, the strains present in the brains from 141 sheep with natural scrapie are currently being determined using mouse bioassay, and a further 94 are planned.

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether any studies are in progress or contemplation to screen brain tissue from food animals other than cattle and sheep for the presence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

Baroness Hayman: No studies are in progress, and currently there are no plans, to screen brain tissue from food animals other than cattle and sheep for the presence of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies

Lord Lucas: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will place in the Library of the House and on the Internet full details of all research into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies currently funded by the Government including:
	(a) the subject of the research;
	(b) the researcher in charge of it;
	(c) the institution for which the researcher works;
	(d) the expected completion date of the research; and
	(e) the funding provided by the Government.

Baroness Hayman: The MRC website (www.mrc.ac.uk/) lists all current UK publicly funded research. The full document is also available to all Members in the Library of the House. This includes projects funded by MAFF, the Department of Health, Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department (SERAD), the Biotechnology and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC). Current projects are listed by title, with a contact name and location, and costs for 1998-1999 and 1999-2000. Recently completed projects are also listed by title, with a contact name and location, and total costs. Anticipated completion dates are also listed, although some of these projects are reassessed at this time for further funding.

Personal Service Providers: IR35 Provisions

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the e-czar has expressed any views as to the effect and practicality of the Government's IR35 provisions (on the treatment for tax and National Insurance purposes of the provision of services through intermediaries such as personal service companies); if so, what those views are; and whether they are being taken into account by Ministers in the determination of policy in this area.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: Mr Alex Allan has received many representations on this issue and has posted his views on the Discussion Forum area of his website--www.e-envoy.gov.uk. He has made it clear that he supports the Government's policy of stopping unfair avoidance of tax and National Insurance contributions.

Personal Service Providers: IR35 Provisions

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What effect the Government's IR35 provisions have had on one-person personal service companies in knowledge-based industries, particularly in terms of such individuals electing which country's tax regime they will be subject to.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: We have no reason to believe that there has been a significant change of behaviour as a result of the new provisions for personal service providers, which simply ensure that everyone pays income tax and National Insurance contributions on a fair and reasonable basis.

Personal Service Providers: IR35 Provisions

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What criteria the Inland Revenue will apply in determining exemptions from their IR35 provisions.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: The new legislation will be applied only to income generated from activities which carry the normal characteristics of employment. The same case law tests as to whether someone is employed or self-employed for tax and National Insurance purposes will apply to everyone, whether they work through a service company or not.
	The criteria which determine employment status for tax and National Insurance purposes are based on a long history of case law. An overview of these criteria is available in the Inland Revenue February 2000 Tax Bulletin, or on the Inland Revenue website at www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/ir35.

Personal Service Providers: IR35 Provisions

The Earl of Northesk: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the IR35 provisions are consistent with the Chancellor's determination to establish the United Kingdom as a knowledge-based economy.

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: People in this country pay tax and National Insurance contributions depending on whether they are employed or self-employed. We believe that these rules should apply equally to everyone: it is not fair that it should be possible to avoid them simply by setting up a one-man company.
	We can only support the people who are genuinely self-employed, who take risks and create employment, if we make sure that tax measures designed to encourage enterprise do not go also to people who are really no different from employees. By tackling avoidance activity, we will be able to target our support for small businesses more effectively, whether in the knowledge-based sector or elsewhere.

Openness in the Public Sector

Baroness Lockwood: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will accept the recommendations made in the report of the Advisory Group on Openness in the Public Sector.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: My right honourable Friend the Home Secretary set up the Advisory Group on Openness in the Public Sector last year to advise him on how he might facilitate a cultural change to greater openness in the public sector. The advisory group reported to him in December and he has carefully considered both the report and its recommendations.
	The recommendations address the practical matters necessary to bring about cultural change and to implement a Freedom of Information Act. They set out a broad agenda for action which my right honourable Friend the Home Secretary is happy to endorse in full. He will be looking to see how we can best give effect to that agenda and he commends the report and recommendations to all public authorities which will be brought within the scope of the freedom of information regime described in the Freedom of Information Bill now before Parliament. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library and is also available in the Home Office website www.homeoffice.gov.uk.

UN Human Rights Treaties

Baroness Whitaker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many states have ratified the First Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, thus providing a right of individual petition; whether the other Member States of the European Union have so ratified; and whether the United Kingdom will join them.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Ninety-five states, of which 14 are members of the European Union, have granted the right of individual petition under the First Optional Protocol.
	The Government have no present plans to grant new rights of petition under any United Nations human rights treaty. This reflects the outcome of a thorough review of our obligations under international human rights treaties in March 1999. We will review the position again when the Human Rights Act 1998 has been implemented and is properly bedded down.

UN Human Rights Treaties

Baroness Whitaker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will lift their reservation on Article 10(2)(b) and (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits mixing young offenders and adult prisoners; and
	Whether they will lift their reservation on the provision to prohibit separating young from adult offenders in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government agree in principle that young prisoners should be held separately from adults. We have provided £51 million to enable the Prison Service to create a distinct estate for young men under 18 years old. However, the United Kingdom believes it should maintain its reservations on Article 10(2)(b) and (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 37(c) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. There continue to be a small number of young men whose particular circumstances mean that they are best temporarily held in adult prisons, for example, because of distance from court.
	The Government have decided that young women aged 15-16 should be placed in non-Prison Service accommodation, and those aged 17 years as spaces become available. In the interim, 17 year-olds on remand will continue to share facilities with adults due to their small numbers, and those sentenced with other young women under 21 in enhanced young offender units in women's prisons.

UN Human Rights Treaties

Baroness Whitaker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they will lift their reservation on Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights relating to the advocacy of religious hatred.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Government have no immediate plans to lift this reservation.
	Incitement of racial hatred is an offence under Part III of the Public Order Act 1986. For the purposes of this offence "racial hatred" is defined as hatred against a group of persons in Great Britain defined by reference to colour, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. This means that the law does not cover all religious groups. The Government are listening to the concerns of minority faith communities about the issues of religious discrimination, and to the case for it to be made subject to the law. This issue raises many difficult, sensitive and complex questions.
	We have commissioned a team from the University of Derby to conduct research to assess the current scale and nature of religious discrimination. The results, due in autumn 2000, will help to inform our thinking about the appropriate response regarding religious discrimination and incitement of religious hatred. In the meantime, we intend to maintain the reservation.

UN Human Rights Treaties

Baroness Whitaker: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	How many states have made a declaration under the Convention Against Torture so as to allow individual petition; and whether the United Kingdom will now make a similar declaration.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Forty-two states have made a declaration under Article 22 of the United Nations Convention against Torture, allowing individual petition.
	The Government have no present plans to grant new rights of petition under any United Nations human rights treaty. This reflects the outcome of a thorough review of our obligations under international human rights treaties in March 1999. We will review the position again when the Human Rights Act 1998 has been implemented and is properly bedded down.

Security Service Tribunal

Lord Morris of Manchester: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What arrangements have been made following the expiry of the terms of appointment of the members of the Security Service Tribunal on 18 December 1999.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Lord Justice Mummery has been appointed as President of the Tribunal for a period of five years, following his predecessor's acceptance of an appointment to the post of Security Service Commissioner. Sheriff John McInnes has been reappointed as Vice-President of the Tribunal and both he and Sir Richard Gaskell have been reappointed to the Tribunal for a further period of five years.
	Lord Justice Simon Brown, formerly president of the Security Service Tribunal, has accepted an appointment as the Security Service Commissioner for a period of three years from 1 April.

Firefighters: Conditions of Service

Baroness Thornton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have received the recommendations of the inquiry into the machinery for determining firefighters' conditions of service.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Professor Burchill, who undertook the inquiry, has submitted to my right honourable friend the Home Secretary a number of recommendations for improving the working of the National Joint Council for Local Authorities' Fire Brigades. These include proposals which would involve the acceptance by the employees and the union of conciliation and arbitration, in the event of disputes, a clarification of procedures, a streamlining of the negotiation arrangements, and an independent Chair for the National Joint Council.
	Implementation of these recommendations would be a matter for the National Joint Council rather than for the Government itself. My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is therefore consulting the employers and the union and other interested parties to confirm that they are willing to accept the proposals and to give them effect. He expects to announce the outcome of these consultations and to publish Professor Burchill's report early next month.
	My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is extremely grateful to Professor Burchill for the time and effort he has given to the inquiry, the way he has conducted it and the extent of common understanding and agreement he has already been able to achieve.

Fire Service: PFI Bids

Baroness Thornton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have reached a decision on the bids for notional credit approvals under the second round of the private finance initiative for the Fire Service.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: We received indicative bids from 10 fire authorities for notional credit approvals under this second Private Finance Initiative (PFI) round for the fire service.
	My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has today decided that notional credit approvals for 2001-02 should be set aside in respect of indicative bids from the fire authorities for:
	Tyne and Wear (Phase 1 of its proposed scheme);
	West Midlands;
	Dorset; and
	Mid and West Wales.
	It will now be for those authorities to prepare an outline business case. Confirmation of the credit approvals will be given only on completion of such a business case demonstrating that PFI is the most cost-effective solution for the projects concerned, and on approval of the inter-departmental Project Review Group.
	My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has also decided that he will be prepared to consider further the indicative bids from Tyne and Wear (Phase II) and London once decisions on provision of notional credit approvals for 2002-03 have been taken.
	We shall be in touch with all those authorities whose bids were not selected on this occasion to offer guidance on how the bids might be developed and resubmitted in any future bidding rounds.

Kerb Crawling

Baroness Howells of St Davids: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What steps they are taking to make kerb crawling an arrestable offence.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: My right honourable friend the Home Secretary is very aware of the nuisance caused by the activities of kerb crawlers. The Government agree that a specific power of arrest would assist the police in dealing with this problem. My right honourable friend intends to include this proposal in the draft of a police and private security Bill on which we will be consulting later this session, and which we will introduce at the earliest legislative opportunity.

Firearms: Use by Police

Lord Hogg of Cumbernauld: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What are the most recent statistics available for the police use of firearms.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The statistics for April 1998 to March 1999 show that the number of police operations in which firearms were issued to officers was 10,928, a fall of over 7 per cent on the previous year. The number of firearms incidents in which firearms were discharged by police was five, compared to three the previous year. There were no fatalities.
	There was an increase of 3 per cent to 7,791 in the number of operations in which armed response vehicles were deployed. Firearms were carried in these vehicles, but were not necessarily issued to officers on each occasion.
	Full details are set out in the tables.
	
		Number of Operations in Which Firearms were Issued
		
			  1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 
			 Total 8,726 12,379 11,842 10,928 
			 Avon and Somerset 326 312 139 88 
			 Bedfordshire 264 345 323 260 
			 Cambridgeshire 47 54 96 43 
			 Cheshire 219 288 216 299 
			 Cleveland 487 1,026 103 35 
			 City of London 275 308 307 147 
			 Cumbria 54 72 68 52 
			 Derbyshire 72 109 147 176 
			 Devon and Cornwall 90 160 133 61 
			 Dorset 36 36 54 69 
			 Durham 111 131 103 114 
			 Essex 267 331 505 590 
			 Gloucestershire 33 41 51 52 
			 Greater Manchester 142 214 165 160 
			 Hampshire 190 245 217 129 
			 Hertfordshire 47 96 82 75 
			 Humberside 92 291 472 317 
			 Kent 82 236 423 92 
			 Lancashire 227 333 338 616 
			 Leicestershire 138 155 89 109 
			 Lincolnshire 25 58 52 57 
			 Merseyside 280 671 675 484 
			 Metropolitan 2,178 2,439 2,578 2,742 
			 Norfolk 96 166 128 185 
			 Northamptonshire 54 64 77 51 
			 Northumbria 452 1,360 823 683 
			 North Yorkshire 52 65 102 69 
			 Nottinghamshire 57 84 306 266 
			 South Yorkshire 225 155 302 135 
			 Staffordshire 80 257 240 209 
			 Suffolk 150 180 193 174 
			 Surrey 70 133 87 60 
			 Sussex 445 235 330 123 
			 Thames Valley 96 215 227 158 
			 Warwickshire 55 97 152 291 
			 West Mercia 59 106 132 130 
			 West Midlands 226 270 227 305 
			 West Yorkshire 657 617 630 662 
			 Wiltshire 26 26 26 24 
			 Dyfed Powys 11 17 27 38 
			 Gwent 47 89 86 64 
			 North Wales 117 233 310 386 
			 South Wales 69 59 101 148 
		
	
	
		Number of Authorised Firearms Officers (AFOs)
		
			  1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 
			 Total 6,554 6,738 6,585 6,308 
			 Avon and Somerset 157 165 161 153 
			 Bedfordshire 48 46 42 50 
			 Cambridgeshire 92 90 80 80 
			 Cheshire 84 70 82 70 
			 Cleveland 65 86 84 78 
			 City of London 120 88 81 55 
			 Cumbria 100 108 122 98 
			 Derbyshire 130 110 100 87 
			 Devon and Cornwall 140 151 147 82 
			 Dorset 75 74 72 72 
			 Durham 103 138 144 96 
			 Essex 203 228 217 235 
			 Gloucestershire 85 82 84 79 
			 Greater Manchester 186 209 182 217 
			 Hampshire 104 106 112 110 
			 Hertfordshire 43 42 41 43 
			 Humberside 104 90 102 102 
			 Kent 144 150 150 130 
			 Lancashire 138 132 125 132 
			 Leicestershire 105 104 94 90 
			 Lincolnshire 81 82 85 75 
			 Merseyside 119 147 165 121 
			 Metropolitan 1,915 2,035 1,971 1,951 
			 Norfolk 99 98 102 109 
			 Northamptonshire 95 92 92 92 
			 Northumbria 160 173 126 123 
			 North Yorkshire 134 108 95 83 
			 Nottinghamshire 126 128 129 120 
			 South Yorkshire 125 110 108 90 
			 Staffordshire 80 78 86 92 
			 Suffolk 70 82 96 101 
			 Surrey 79 76 61 69 
			 Sussex 149 180 146 156 
			 Thames Valley 175 185 194 179 
			 Warwickshire 50 41 38 44 
			 West Mercia 153 155 159 139 
			 West Midlands 87 88 95 92 
			 West Yorkshire 150 131 114 128 
			 Wiltshire 145 134 105 88 
			 Dyfed Powys 57 70 71 67 
			 Gwent 55 70 59 64 
			 North Wales 70 72 90 97 
			 South Wales 154 134 176 169 
		
	
	
		Number of Operations Involving Armed Response Vehicles (ARVs)
		
			  1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 
			 Total 5,523 8,060 7,544 7,791 
			 Avon and Somerset 200 247 121 83 
			 Bedfordshire 239 309 285 240 
			 Cambridgeshire 15 23 19 27 
			 Cheshire 180 240 166 247 
			 Cleveland 465 1,014 57(1) 29 
			 City of London 23 25 34 32 
			 Cumbria 44 64 43 38 
			 Derbyshire 53 97 99 153 
			 Devon and Cornwall 21 77 58 43 
			 Dorset 22 28 50 66 
			 Durham 38 62 85 84 
			 Essex 155 218 180 285 
			 Gloucestershire 10 13 48 49 
			 Greater Manchester 6 --(2) 56 43 
			 Hampshire 159 208 170 114 
			 Hertfordshire 20 35 25 26 
			 Humberside 35 284 437 277 
			 Kent 42 208 212 74 
			 Lancashire 187 320 321 596 
			 Leicestershire 101 126 68 109 
			 Lincolnshire 21 39 34 42 
			 Merseyside 239 618 559 396 
			 Metropolitan 1,025 790 954 1,573 
			 Norfolk 80 152 117 167 
			 Northamptonshire 3 20 29 32 
			 Northumbria 325 715 515 503 
			 North Yorkshire 0 13 52 30 
			 Nottinghamshire 44 66 256(1) 246 
			 South Yorkshire 171 129 252 115 
			 Staffordshire 70 235 206 185 
			 Suffolk 117 120 135 104 
			 Surrey 47 52 76 46 
			 Sussex 413 173 284 0(1) 
			 Thames Valley 73 164 184 139 
			 Warwickshire 54 91 127 220 
			 West Mercia 39 77 98 99 
			 West Midlands 98 103 102 129 
			 West Yorkshire 587 584 586 630 
			 Wiltshire 1 23 21 17 
			 Dyfed Powys 6 12 19 30 
			 Gwent 39 58 47 39 
			 North Wales 14 173 260 298 
			 South Wales 42 55 97 136 
		
	
	(1) These forces have changed the counting method for incidents to which ARVs are deployed.
	(2) No figures available.